Discharge hopper



May 18,1926. 1,585,062

. A. N. WHITE.

DISCHARGE HOPPER Filed Dec. 9. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 14 Ill e AFAED h TE- A. N. WHITE DI SCHARGE HOPPER May 13- 1926.

Filed'Dec. 9, 1922 2 Sneets-Sheet. 2

Patented May 18, 1926.

.1 U'rrEn stares Aren't or rics.

.ALFRED N. WHITE, DE LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO ROBERT F. CHAPMAN, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

DISCHARGE HOPPER.

Application filed December a, 1922. Serial No. 605,825.

This invention relates to discharge hoppers for the ingredients of a batch of material, and is particularly adaptable for use in concrete mixing, in order to discharge the sand, gravel, and cement, into the mixing apparatus in the desired proportions.

It is the object of the invent-ionyto provide for automatically proportioning the various ingredients of a batch of material while discharging the same, and to providefor varying the proportions of said ingredients in convenient manner. I

It is a further object of the invention to provide separate discharge bins forthe respective ingredients of a batch of material, said bins having means for automatically proportioning the discharge of said ingredients, and arranged so that the proportioned ingredients will be discharged into a common receptacle which may be a suitable mixer, or may be a conveying apparatus arranged to discharge the batch into a mixer.

Still further objects of the invention will be readily understood from the following description of the accompanying drawings, in which y s Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. c

Fig. 3 is a detail section on the same line, showing the measuring hopper and the discharge means for the storage bin. v

Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the line H of Fig. 3.

In the present instance, the discharge hopper is shown in the basement of a building, so that material may be dumped into said hopper from the street level 1, and dis charged at the lower end of the hopper into pan 2, which is adapted to dump said material into a concrete mixer 3 in said basement.

The discharge hopper comprises a supportingframe ,4, having a base 5 sloping downwardly from the street level to a point "spaced from the floor of the basement and above pan 2. The base 5 has side walls 6 slanting toward one another from the upper to the lower end of the base, and partitions 7 along the length of said base, and in parallel spaced relation at the medial portion thereof, and in spaced relation from side walls 6. 7

Three separate bins are thus formed upon base 5, the larger bins A and B between side pfi iwalls 6 .and partitions 7 being adapted to receive sand and gravel respectively, and the smaller bin O'between the partitions 7 being adapted to receive cement.

An end wall 8 extends upwardly from the lower end of base 5, and discharge openings 9 for the respective bins are provided in the lower portion of said wall. Guides 10 are provided at the sides of these openings, and

closure means, shown as doors 11, are vertically slidable in said guides, for opening or closing the discharge openings of the bins.

A transverse shaft 12 is mounted on the underside of base 5 at its lower end and below the discharge openings 9, and tilting measuring hoppers are mounted on said shaft in alinement with the respective openings 9 and above pan 2. I

The measuring hoppers have bases 13, and triangular side walls let extending upwardly therefrom to form hoppers having open ends at the respective inclined sides of walls 14. The front ends of the hoppers have doors 15 and the rear open ends of the hoppers are adapted to receive material through the discharge openings of bins A, B, and C.

The upper edges of doors 15 are pivoted to side walls 14, at the apices of the triangles forming the same, said pivotal connections being shown at 16, and the lower edges of the doors are thus adapted tobe bin 0, and the adjacent side walls of the hoppers for bins A and B, are preferably parallel, and the outerside Walls of the hoppers for bins A and B preferably slant inwardly toward the front discharge ends of the hoppers, so that the front discharge ends of the hoppers are positioned alongside of one another and occupy but little lateral space, in order that all of said hoppers may conveniently discharge into pan 2.

The measuring hoppers are mounted on forked arms 17, fixed to bases 13 and extend- 'mg rearwardly from the measuring hoppers and journaled on shaft 12. The arms 17 extend rearwardly beyond shaft 12 and below base 5 as shown at 18, and said rear ends of the arms have pluralities of apertures 19 arranged along the same,'so that weights 20 may be hooked in selected apertures of the arms for adjusting the leverage of said arms. The doors 11 are adapted to be opened and closed by tilting movement of the measuring hoppers, and for this purpose links 21 are pivoted at their respective ends to said doors and to the bases 01 the measurlng hoppers, the parts being so arranged that when the measuring hoppers are tilted upwardly by the weighted arms 18, the doors are moved upwardly in their guides for opening discharge openings 9.

At the same time, the doors of the measuring hoppers are swung shut by gravity, and are latched in closed position. lhe latching means preferably include bars 22 projecting from the lower edges of the doors and extending beneath the bases oit the hoppers, with latch bars 23 pivoted on the undersides of the bases of the hoppers and adaoted to engage or disengage the bars 22. The latch bars are normally swung by springs 24. to position i r engaging bars 22 and thereby locking 15 in closed position, and said latch bars are released by connections extending over hooks 26 to a point convenient to the operator of the apparatus.

lVhen the measuring hoppers are tilted upwardly, the ingredients a batch of material is discharged from bins A, B, and G into the respective hoppers, and each hopper will tilt downwardly when its weighted arm 18 is overbalanced by the weight of the ingredient in the hopper, and said downward tilting of the hoppers will cause doors 11 to close for shutting oil the discharge openings S) of the bins.

The downward tilting of the hoppers will also position doors 15 so as to be swung open by the weight of the material in the hoppers when the latching means for the respective doors are released, in order that the ingredients of a batch of material contained in the measuring hoppers may be readily dumped into pan 2, and from thence discharged into the mixer 8.

As clearly shown in Fig. l, the weights 20 are of different size, the weight C for the hopper of the cement bin being the smallest, and the weights A and B for the hoppers of the sand and gravel bins being successively larger. The weights correspond to the jn'oportional weight of the cement, sand, and gravel of a batch or concrete, so that the measuring hoppers will be overbalanced and tilted by different weights of the ingredients received therein, said diti'erent weights controlling the proportion of cement, sand, and gravel in the batch of material contained in the three hoppers of the apparatus, so that by dumping the hoppers into pan 2, a batch is formed having the ingredients thereof automatically proportioned.

By adjusting weights 20 along the arms 18, the weights of the ingredients required to tilt the measuring hoppers, may be varied :espectively, in order that the proportions ot the ingredients ot a batch of material may be automatically controlled, and varied or graduated as desired.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred form of the apparatus, it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the construction, combination, and arrangement of parts, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1.. The combination of a bin having a discharge opening, closure means for said opening, a measuring hopper ha. a base and a discharge side, a door for said discharge side of the hopper pivoted thereto at its upper edge, a weight adapted to swing the empty hopper upwardly beneath said bin to receive material from the discharge opening of said bin and to swing the door for the discharge side of said hopper so that it will tend to close by gravity, means for adjusting said weight relative to said hopper, said hopper being adapted to swing downwardly when said weight is overbalanced by the weight of material received in said hopper from said bin, said downward swinging of the hopper positioning the door for the discharge side thereof in a substantially vertical plane with the base of said hopper sloping downwardly thereto so that the weight of the material in said hopper will tend to open said door, a latch for said door, and a connection between said hopper and the closure means for the discharge opening of the bin adapted to open said closure means when the hopper is swung upwardly and close the same when the hopper is swung downwardly.

2. The combination of a bin having a discharge opening, a measuring hopper, having a base and a discharge side, a door for said discharge side of the hopper, and means for swinging the empty hopper upwardly beneath said bin to receive material from the discharge opening of the bin and for swinging the door for the discharge side of the hopper in position to close by gravity, said hopper being adapted to swing downwardly upon receipt of a predetermined weight of material from said bin so as to position the door for the discharge side of the hopper whereby the weight of material in said hopper will tend to open the same.

3. The combination of a bin having a discharge opening, a measuring hopper having a base and a discharge side, a door for said discharge side of tee hopper, means for swinging the empty hopper upwardly beneath said bin to receive material from the discharge opening of the bin and for swinging the door for the discharge side of the hopper in position to close by gravity, a latch for said door, said hopper being adapted to swing downwardly upon receipt of a pre-determined weight of the material from said bin, and means for releasing said latch so as to permit opening of the door and dumping of the material.

4. The combination of a bin having a discharge opening, a measuring hopper having a base and a. discharge side, a door for said discharge side of the hopper, means for swinging the empty hopper upwardly beneath said bin to receive material from the discharge opening of the bin and for swinging the door for the discharge side of the hopper in position to close by gravity, a latch for said door, said hopper being adapted to swing downwardly upon receipt of a pre-determined weight of the material from said bin, means for releasing said latch so as to permit opening of the door and dumping of the material, closure means for the discharge opening of said bin, and a connection between the hopper and said closure means adapted to open the latter when the hopper is swung upwardly and close the same when the hopper is swung downwardly.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

ALFRED N. WHITE. 

